opinion was essentially divided in july after the deadly movie theater shootings in aurora, colorado. 47% said it was more important to protect gun ownership. 46% said it was more important to protect gun rights. a big part of the debate stems from the number of guns in this country. there are more than 297 million privately-owned firearms in the u.s. according to a congressional research service report. the gun industry here is thriving with profits doubling during the great recession. u.s. firearms remain one of the most successful industries in the world. stock prices of the two largest publicly traded firearm companies skyrocketed from the president's inauguration to the latest high. smith & wesson up over 260% and industry leader sturm, ruger and company up over 500%. just to give you an example here of comparison. you would have made less money if you bought a share of tech darling apple which had a lower gain than sturm, ruger & company, but you didn't have to buy stock to win. industry jobs commonly reward employees with a $140,000 salary. that's almost three times the nationa